2002 Toyota Celica Airbag light and Windshield Wiper Odd Is

SIRVO

MEMBER

2002 TOYOTA CELICA

4 CYL

2WD

AUTOMATIC

95,000 MILES

I was getting the front passenger side gravel guard installed, and when they finished and brought it back up to me, the windshield wipers would not turn off.
The front wipers would change speeds, but stay on, and neither the front nor rear wiper fluid would work.
They tried to find the problem, and in doing so took apart the steering column. They returned it to me minus the fuse so that I could drive without the wipers going. On the ride home I realized the airbag light was now on.

A few days later after approx 100 miles being put on the car, I smelled smoke and what I can only describe as band aids. The mechanic who had looked at the car with no answers at all had unplugged the fuse wire without telling us. So even with the fuse in the wipers would not work. But now the wiper fluid on front and back worked.

I took it to a dealer and they are saying they replugged in the wire and the wipers work perfectly, but are noisy, and that the airbag module is bad and needs to be replaced.

This sounds like a strange coincidence to me, and I can only assume it has to do with an electrical issue somewhere, but I have no idea where to start.

Any ideas would be fantastic.

*update*

The dealership gave us the code B1156, and now that the wipers are working, the wiper motor sounds like its dying.

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Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 AT 4:33 PM

9 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

EXPERT

First, I agree it is a little odd that this happened after they worked on it. What makes it even more confusing is the fact that the work they did should have nothing to do with your problems. However, if they took apart the steering column to access the wiper switch, they may have damaged the air bag. Did your dealer tell you which module was the problem? Also, the noise from the wipers, is it coming from under the hood (the wiper motor itself)?

Let me know.

Joe

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Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 AT 11:46 PM

SIRVO

MEMBER

The dealership was not specific at all, and when prodded the guy seemed shifty and confused that we were questioning him. My mother has directed me to another dealer that she says has never tried to trick her out of money. Over the phone they seemed confused about first the guy giving me the wrong code, then the price they quoted for the work. Not to mention they were trying to charge me another 200 on top of the diagnostic fee to look into the burning smell in the steering column that I informed him of when I took it in. I think we just got the run around, them not expecting two women to ask questions.

The noise is coming from under the hood, the windshield motor area. It does now sound like its dying, but I am confused why it started off as being on constantly, and now runs and shuts off normally.

It may just be a huge coincidence that it started to die when I had the body work done, and my bad for not saying no to them when they tried to fix it.

My only fear is that it could be a whole other electrical issue that is setting off different problems in my car.

Do you think it will be a good idea to have the other dealership remove the airbag sensor so I can send it off to be reset? I heard they won't do that kind of thing at dealers, and it would save me about 700 bucks. I gathered from the dealership guys prodding about whether or not I had been in an accident recently, meant that my module just needs to be reset.

I am already planning on getting a refurbished wiper motor. If it was something else that caused it, I think the damage has been done and its already blown.

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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 AT 2:47 AM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

EXPERT

Who will reset the module for you? I'm not sure that can be done. Make sure if you have someone that can do it, they guarantee their work. Also, if the noise is coming from the motor for sure, then replace it.

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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 AT 11:37 PM

SIRVO

MEMBER

There are a few places online that reset them. I can only go off the many good reviews and hope for the best, though the idea of saving that much money seems too good to not try.

Thanks for your help. I know this was a strange problem and was not likely to result in any specific answers. None the less, your replies were appreciated.

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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 AT 3:10 AM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

EXPERT

Would you let me know if it works out for you. I'm anxious to know and it may help others in the future.

THanks,
Joe

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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 AT 12:54 PM

SIRVO

MEMBER

The second dealership I took it to is now saying that it is not my driver airbag module, but my passenger sensor located under the hood. They said something about a open wire circuit.
They gave me a much better price and time line (250 and 2 days instead of 800 and 3 weeks) so I agreed to let them fix it. I won't know until tomorrow if it works and the airbag light turns off.

Sorry I couldn't test out the authenticity of the module resetting.

Though I would recommend getting a second opinion about the nature of the problem first, since that worked out so well for me. Now I (fingers crossed) get working airbags, and a dealership warranty.

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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 AT 9:49 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

EXPERT

That is great! Let me know how it works out for you.

JOe

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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 AT 10:09 PM

SIRVO

MEMBER

Finally we know what happened! I am so excited.

The dealer luckily didn't get the part in on time and I needed my car for the weekend.
When I picked it up I noticed that now my cruise control was gone as well. There was no way I was accepting three problems to be coincidence, so I refused to return it to the dealer since I knew they considered their job essentially done.
Thank god I stuck to my guns and took it to an electrical repair shop, because I just got a call about a bundle of stripped wires on the right side of my car.

Yesterday they could already tell that my wires were running hot, and the only thing left to do was trace the problems location. They found it this morning and I am getting a ride over there now to see if its possible that the body shop that worked on my car caused this whole mess.

Unfortunately the systems that have failed due to the hot wires, are already dead, and do need to be replaced. But now we know they will only need to be replaced that one time. =)

I hope somebody else doesn't have to deal with this, but if they do, I hope they learn from my mistakes.